Salt Lake Dirt

Lauren Badillo Milici joins me today to talk about her new book Sad Sexy Catholic. We talk about the Scream franchise, the Mothman of West Virginia, and how she approaches writing poetry. Great chat! I'm a huge fan of Lauren's now.

Thanks for listening!

Kyler

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Book Synopsis: SAD SEXY CATHOLIC follows the journey of a young twenty-something as she navigates the already difficult task of existing made even harder by trauma, body dysmorphia, a personality disorder, and leftover guilt from a religious upbringing. The speaker in these poems strives to find softness, even in the darkest of moments. (ClashBooks.com)

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Author Bio: Lauren Milici is a Jersey-born, Florida-raised poet and writer based in the Midwest. When she isn't crafting sad poems about sex, she's either writing or shouting into the void about film, TV, and all things pop culture.

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Episode Links:

PURCHASE Sad Sexy Catholic

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Salt Lake Dirt Podcast Info:

Today I welcome bandleader and composer Skip Heller to the show. We talk about his new album Dark Passages by the Hollywood Film Noirchestra (Killer Kern Records) and how the project came into existence. We also chat about Louis Armstrong, Jerry Stahl, and his love for classic film. I had a blast talking to Skip. I was scrambling to write down his recommendations and interests! He is like the cool older brother that turns you onto art that will change your life.

You can find the new album over on Bandcamp.

Thanks for listening!

Kyler

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"Hollywood -- Bandleader/composer Skip Heller has long enjoyed a diverse career, but one close look at his resume - which includes working with Yma Sumac, Bootsy Collins, NRBQ, Lalo Guerrero, Los Lobos, the Klezmatics, Todd Rundgren, and Joe Bataan - and it becomes clear that film noir is his home base...

Dark Passages (named after a David Goodis novel) takes the listener through the world of noir, largely concentrating on mid century classics (Touch of Evil, The Hustler, Kiss Me Deadly, Riffifi), B movies (Foreign Intrigue, Beat Girl), TV (Twilight Zone, Perry Mason), and two of Heller's noir originals. In addition, the first pressing features a cover by none other than Cal Schenkel, whose album covers for Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and Tom Waits are (pardon the word) iconic."

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SLD Podcast Info:

Today I welcome Joseph Fasano to the show. His latest novel The Swallows of Lunetto came out on Maudlin House this past November. It’s the story of a young couple's escape from Italian fascism at the end of the Second World War. An incredible book and beautifully written! If you have a book club this is a novel that I think would spark some fascinating conversations.

If you go to the Maudlin House website to purchase The Swallows of Lunetto, you can enter in the promo code saltlake to get 10% off.

Also, make sure to check out Joseph’s music. The title track from his most recent album The Wind That Knows the Way will play at the end of this episode.

Thanks for listening!

Kyler

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"From Joseph Fasano, the acclaimed author of The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing, comes The Swallows of Lunetto, the powerful story of a young couple's escape from Italian fascism at the end of the Second World War.

Alexandra Bianchi lives and works in Lunetto, a provincial village in Italy's Calabria region, which finds itself ravaged by war in the summer of 1945. Leonardo Gemetti, a young man from Lunetto, has been missing for nearly eight years, and all his village knows of him is that he has carried out an atrocity against the Italian partisans in Mussolini's fallen Republic of Salò. When Alexandra meets a masked figure in the streets of Lunetto, she cannot imagine what she will learn about history  and her place in it.

A sweeping love story and historical drama, The Swallows of Lunetto is a timely meditation on the left-right political divide, the reckonings of inherited trauma, and the potential of forgiveness to heal deeply divisive wounds."

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SLD Podcast Info:

Abbey George (director/producer) and Maddie Lucas (producer/actress) join me to talk about their short film Jesus Would Have Loved Punk Rock which will have its world premiere at the 2023 Mammoth Film Festival (March 2-6, 2023). I stumbled upon the film's poster somewhere online and it completely grabbed my attention. I absolutely fell in love with it once I had the chance to see it.

Sign up for their mailing list to keep up to date.

I'm excited to see more work from Maddie and Abbey in the future!

Thanks for listening.

Kyler

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Film Synopsis:

Veronica and Annie are fed up with the oppressive and corrupt nature of their Catholic high school, determined to make authoritarian teachers answer for their crimes and right the moral compass of the student body.

Episode Links:

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SLD Podcast Info:

D.T. Robbins joins me to talk about his new collection of short stories Birds Aren't Real. Absurdist, funny, dark... everything I love in a book. 

Use PROMO Code: saltlake to get 10% off your purchase of Birds Aren't Real on the Maudlin House website.

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Book Synopsis:

"Meeting minutes from a Satanic cult. Werewolves with orgasmic origins.  Homemade puzzles made from human body parts. A family trapped inside  someone’s leg, hurling toward oblivion. Gaslighting birds. Bicycle tours  through hell in search of a lost dog. A fake-your-own-death kit. The  ultimate makeover. A carwash funeral. The end of the world in the back  of an old Chevy Astro. Birds Aren't Real. The absurdist examination of  what awaits us all at the end—for better or for worse."

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Episode Links:

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SLD Podcast Info:

Rounding out our coverage for the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival is the film Sweet As. Filmmaker Jub Clerc talked with me about the making of the film and its close autobiographical ties. Wonderful performances from an incredible, young cast! Check it out.

Thanks for listening!

SYNOPSIS: Sweet As (Australia, 2022)

"Everyone and everything is a story, but what about finding the right  words? This is something that fifteen-year-old Murra discovers while  travelling on a photo-excursion for disadvantaged youth through the  ancient natural landscapes of her Aboriginal homeland. In the course of  one eventful week of wild camping and wandering through historic  Indigenous sites, Murra reconnects with her ancestral roots, makes  friends for life, experiences the disappointments of heartbreak but  discovers also her love for photography. As the camera and the images  she creates calibrate her with a fresh point of view to the world, Murra  sees new possibilities for her future. Sweet As  celebrates resilience, growth, hope and love and the importance of  finding one’s very own voice in the process."

Today I speak with filmmaker Zhi Wei Jow. His new film Tomorrow is a Long Time has been playing at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival this past week. I really enjoyed the film. It is visually stunning and hits on some heavy themes including family and survival. Plus, there is a great Bob Dylan Easter Egg! Check it out!

Thanks for listening!

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SYNOPSIS: Tomorrow is a Long Time

"Acts of violence bring regret and repercussions for widowed pest  exterminator Chua and his son Meng. But control over their lives is not a  familiar feeling for either of them. The dense cityscape of Singapore  hems them in their precarious existence, offering little tenderness or  space to breathe freely. His father’s long shifts of gruelling work for a  thankless employer coupled with his grandmother’s advancing illness  have left Meng isolated, and susceptible to being pressured into joining  ranks with a group of bullies from school. Compulsory military service  looms near. The unknown world of the jungle holds its own threats, but  also the possibility of bringing Meng closer to understanding his own  nature, and connecting with something bigger."

Today I welcome filmmaker and novelist Sonja Heiss to the show. Her new film When Will it be Again Like it Never Was Before has been playing at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival [Berlinale]. I absolutely loved the film! It's one of the best movies I've seen in awhile (film festival or otherwise) - set your Google alerts! 

Thanks for listening!

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FILM SYNOPSIS: When Will it be Again Like it Never Was Before  

"The household Josse grows up in hardly corresponds to the typical  notions of family: his father is the director of a psychiatric clinic,  on the premises of which their family home is located. Josse spends his  childhood and adolescence with two brothers and liberal parents whose  bourgeois life is threatening to break up their marriage. Again and  again, Josse is plagued by fits of anger and sadness. He finds a  sympathetic ear, consolation and the feeling of not being an oddball  primarily among the psychiatric patients. The adaptation of Joachim  Meyerhoff’s bestseller is carried by a well-known cast and tells a  tragicomic tale about growing up in the 1970s. A soulful celebration of  life in all its absurdity and transience."

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